Day 16 - Wet and Dry

Monday 14th September 2015
 
I reckon the rain finally stopped around 4am. The sudden quiet wakes me up so I read for a while. Thank heavens for quality camping gear. It starts to get light around 7am at this time of the year here in France.
We leave Bourg Saint Maurice for the last time around 10am after a croissant and baguette breakfast.
There's snow on them there hills

 Our route today takes us back over the Cormet de Roseland again. The ride over and down to Beaufort is in drizzle but thankfully we get none of the snow that is now evident on the mountain tops after last night's wild weather.



Cattle Crossing in rural France

Then the heavy rain starts. We head onto the Peage motorway, this is not the weather for back road twisties. The toll motorway skirts the west of Geneva and the Swiss border.

 We leave the motorway near Nantua and ride up the side of the Blue Lake. The rain is easing off and eventually the sun returns. We are now heading west towards the Parc Natural Regional de Morvan. This is a lovely forested area of gentle hills and lakes. The riding will be lovely if only the weather improves.

We call it a day in the small town of Cuiseaux and check into the only hotel we can find, the Vuillard. The whole town is being dug up, not inspiring.

But the hotel is comfortable enough, rather basic upstairs but has a good restaurant. As so often in France the wifi is flakey. It is always via third party hotspots who require your name, address, age and inside leg measurement before grudgingly allowing access to their advertising pages. Frequent log outs require complicated procedures to get back in. Some allow paltry one hour access. Sometimes there are hourly charges.

The church in Cuiseaux

 
All dug up - the road outside the hotel


We repair to the only bar in town and get pleasantly tipsy on local vin rouge (me) and Red Leffe ale (the Beermonster). The owner is selecting music from YouTube from a laptop wired into a powerful PA. An eclectic mix of rock and roll mostly; Elvis, Rod Stewart, Kenny Rogers and John Lennon. After a cheerful evening we stumble back to the Hotel just €15 lighter. By comparison my half bottle of Pinot Noir with the evening meal is the cheapest on the list at €14.


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